Over The Love
by jule7434
Summary: Starts in Death of a Client and then goes on from there.
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

**_I have been toying with the idea for this ever since the promo for the last 3 episodes of season 4 came out, but haven't had the time to write it. The next two chapters are almost done and will be updated soon, but after that, I have no idea where it'll go. Please read and review so I know if you like it and should continue..._**

**_The title is an amazing song by Florence and The Machine! _**

**_Thanks to the amazing beta Mike for beta-reading this super fast so I could post it in time._**

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Owen was supposed to meet his mother at Alicia's apartment so that they could go out to a local Irish pub and celebrate St. Patrick's Day. He was more than surprised to get a phone call from his mother letting him know she was on her way to the police station to see Alicia. _'Wow, she's really rebelling' _was the first thought through his mind before she explained that his sister was there helping with the investigation of the murder of one of her clients. Ah, that sounded more like her.

From outside the room he could hear the singing. '_Only on St. Patrick's Day'_, he thought. He squeezed through the people dressed in green, dodging a lot of drunks before he found his mother. She was standing with crossed arms, in the middle of the crowd, watching something.

He approached, placing one hand on her shoulder to gain her attention. "Hey mom. Crazy night, huh?"

She murmured an 'uhum' not bothering to look at him. He gazed in the direction she was staring, wanting to know what was keeping her so mesmerized. Inside the interrogation room, his sister was sitting at the table, wearing a beautiful, red, strapless gown; her hair up, showing her back and shoulders. Alicia was stunning. In the chair across from her, in a tux, all James Bond style was Will. They were laughing, looking relaxed and at ease despite the surroundings they were in. Despite the smell of beer and puke, the bad Irish song performed by one of the cops and the creepy atmosphere created by the poor lighting. It was like they were in a world of their own.

"They look good together, don't they?" His mother asked with a growing smile.

"Yeah." Owen sighed. "But it's her decision. Don't meddle." His mother didn't answer, so he added with a serious tone, "Mom, don't interfere, okay?"

"Alright, alright." She said with her hands in the air in surrender.

"We should go in and talk to her." Owen suggested and moved for the door.

His mom held his arm, stopping him, "Let's give them a little more time." She looked, pleading.

He rolled his eyes, but said with a smile, "I really need a cup of coffee. Let's get some."


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks to Beta Mike that I can update this before tonight's episode like I'd intented to. Hope you like it! Please let me know :)_

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Will hadn't been able to close his eyes the whole night, replaying his conversation with Veronica in an endless loop. Even now, sitting at his desk with a lot of work waiting for him, he couldn't concentrate. _Damn it!_ Work used to be the one thing able to distract him and make him forget everything else. Well, that and alcohol. But getting drunk at 9 a.m. wouldn't look very good.

There was still one thing he could do. Something he used to do in college when he wanted to relax or think. Will dropped the pen from his hand, stood up from the chair behind his desk and grabbed the baseball bat sitting between the couch and the bookshelf.

As Will walked through the crowded hallways of the firm with the baseball bat across his shoulders, he received a lot of stares, but since he was the boss, nobody dared to ask. Everybody except one person.

"Will, you look awful! And what the hell are you doing with that baseball bat?"

"Thanks, Diane." He said ironically. "I'm going to the batting cage to hit some balls."

"Have fun." She said patting him on the back and then walking away.

...

The batting cage was deserted; except for one little girl hitting balls. She was skinny and small, but hit hard. Harder than he did when he was her age. Will entered an empty cage, turned on the machine and waited in position for it to start. As he heard the hum of the machine, adjusted his feet and tightened the grip on his bat, Will could already feel himself relaxing a bit, focusing solely on the baseball that was about to pop out the metal hole. Suddenly the ball flew in his direction and he swung the bat, hitting it. It wasn't his best hit, not even a good one, but it felt good. Another ball came, another hit. His bad shoulder made a 'crack'.

'_Do you love my daughter?'_ Veronica's question popped up in his mind for the umpteenth time.

_The next ball came and Will hit harder. _

She had added that he needed to stop being polite about it, but how could he do that? Hadn't he over the past four years let Alicia know that he loved her? Swallowing his pride over and over again to tell her that he did, only to have her reject him each time?

_His grip on the bat tightened, his eyes narrowed. _

Will had told her on that tragic voicemail that he had loved her ever since Georgetown and she never answered.

_He hit and sent the ball flying to the grid. _

Actually, she had never heard it. Will remembered one afternoon, years before, when Alicia came into his office and asked him about it. She explained she had never gotten it, but he lied and didn't tell her what had really been on the message.

_He shifted his feet to adjust to a better position. _

By the time she confronted him, the wound had finally stopped bleeding and was starting to heal with his illusion that he was moving on with Tammy. _Fool._

_Another hard hit. Another 'crack' from his left shoulder. _

He had said again that he loved her over the phone while they were together. When he heard Alicia holding her breath on the other end, he took it back and said it didn't mean anything.

_The hum of the machine grew louder, a sign that another ball was about to come. _

He recalled to have kicked himself all day, because it had been a lie; he had meant it.

_Will raised the bat over his shoulder. _

Afterwards, he had tried to tell her again, talk to her, but she brushed him off.

'_Pop', the ball was flying in his direction. _

He even let her know he wasn't interested in anyone else, but she didn't want to talk about it and so he let her.

_Will swung the bat. _

He always let her.

_The bat made contact with the ball, and the pleasant sensation of hitting it came. _

The day, the awful day, she broke things off because it was too much, _**he**_ was too much, he had been prepared to make things more serious. But as Alicia ended things, he kept his mouth shut and just watched her go.

_And then, the burning sensation on his bad shoulder followed. _

But she was married, what could he do? That was the reason he hadn't got in his car and gone after her when they first kissed in his office in what seemed a lifetime ago.

_Will ignored the pain and held the bat tighter. _

Although, he hadn't followed Alicia either, when they kissed again in her office the month before. He was even the one to suggest they should avoid each other and then be just friends again, not acting on it. Even if it was the last thing he wanted to do. And this time, Alicia and Peter had been separated.

_The humming grew louder again and Will narrowed his eyes to focus on the oncoming ball_.

Well, apparently not anymore, since Alicia had told him at the Shamrock dinner that she and Peter were back together and that she wanted to end things permanently. What had she ended exactly? They had nothing.

_Another hit, the pleasant sensation and again the excruciating pain. _

On St. Patrick´s day he had asked her whether she could just decide it. He had finally gathered the courage to argue his case, because after fighting so hard against it, after trying in every way to believe he was in control of his emotions, he had finally realized his feelings were bigger than his will.

_The pain was too strong and Will had to put the bat down to rub his shoulder. _

He had been prepared to tell Alicia all that, to start fighting for them, but as her phone started "screaming" 'Mom, pick up the phone', he backed off again. He was a coward.

_Will was staring into the back wall and then another ball was flying towards him before he could pick up the bat again. It hit him hard on the arm and it would certainly bruise. _

The one time he had pushed forward, the time when they went out to celebrate the Rickter case, he asked for good timing; he had proposed only for one hour. Even when he wanted to ask for forever.

_He picked up the bat from the ground and hit the next ball harder as a pitiful act of revenge against all baseballs. The pain in his left shoulder pierced again. _

Thinking the last four years through, he realized he had never really made a move. Sure, he had hinted things, let her know. But she had once asked him for a plan and the best he could come up with was 'My plan is I love you'. With a life as complicated as hers, handling a campaign, kids and the press; he couldn't expect her to drop everything on a whim. Love wasn't enough; she needed something concrete, something real.

_Tears swelled up in his eyes and Will swore they were from the pain in his shoulder._

The night before, at first, he had been pissed at Veronica for hinting that he had never done anything about Alicia and him, that he had been "polite" about it. He had wanted to tell Veronica that her daughter had put an end to everything, even their feelings, a few weeks before; that now their situation wasn't as simple as him not trying hard enough.

_Will's knuckles turned white around the baseball bat. _

But before he could say anything, Veronica went on and said he still had a window. Maybe those lingering looks he had noticed Alicia give him weren't a product of his imagination, after all.

_With a loud bang Will sent the ball flying back. _

Veronica had also said his window was closing. Now was his last chance. He had always held back, fearing Alicia's rejection and what it would do to their friendship, but what had he left to lose anyway? It was clear they could never be just friends again; no matter what he told her or even himself.

_He winced in pain and a tear rolled down his cheek. _

He had kept his distance, because he didn't want to complicate things for her at work. But recently things had changed. He wasn't her boss anymore and things were already a mess.

_Will hit the next ball harder than he should have. _

He recalled reminding her once she always had options. Of course he backed away when she asked him what he meant.

_The pain was unbearable, but Will couldn't stop. _

He was too frustrated and had to take it out somewhere. Maybe coming to the batting cage hadn't been such a good idea. Instead of calming him down and distracting him, it had only brought to the surface things that had been long buried. It was the time to make it clear to Alicia what those options were. Face to face this time. No missed connections, no misunderstandings.

_Another ball came flying in his direction and as it made contact with his bat, he let out all of his anger towards himself and his cowardice, all his frustrations with the situation and all his excitement for what was about to come. The ball collided with the grid, making a loud 'bang' that was able to cover his cry of pain. _

The _bang_ was so loud the little girl, who was far away, stopped mid-swing to look for the source of the noise. Will raised one hand in apology for disturbing her and pressed the 'off' button on the machine, silencing its humming. Picking up his things he went to the showers. It was time to move.


	3. Chapter 3

**_I am so sorry it took me so long to update this! I needed some time to recover from the finale and then decided to change the course of this story. Everyone who has been so patient and is still with me, thanks and sorry about the short chapter, it is more of a filler. The next one should be up real soon._**

**_Thanks Mike for betaing._**

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Will was almost back at the firm, the adrenaline pumping through his veins. He was so excited and nervous about his decision that he almost missed the silver Buick that was turning around the corner. Alicia's Buick. With her inside. Leaving the firm. _Damn_. Will picked up his cell and dialed her familiar number.

"_Hey, Will." _

"Alicia, hi. I passed your car on my way to the firm. Are you heading to court?"

"_Erm...no, I'm heading home. I have the election tonight." Of course! How could he have forgotten about it? _His window was really closing. Only a sliver was left open.

"Hmmm. I need to talk to you. Can I come over?" God, he hoped he didn't sound as nervous as he felt.

"_Sure. I just have to get a few things ready, but yes. Which case? Maybe I can prepare in the meantime."_

"Hmm…It just…it has to be today." He could hear her catching her breath. She understood that it wasn't about work. For a moment he was unsure whether he should really do it. She was about to renew her vows to Peter. There probably wasn't a worst time to declare his love for her.

The longer it took for her to answer, the more tempted he was to give her an excuse and leave it be. Before he could think of a way out of this, he heard Alicia take a deep breath and say_ "Okay. I'll be home. Come over when you can."_ On the other hand, she was encouraging him. She knew what this was about and could have stopped him right there, but she didn't.

Feeling more confident, he turned his car around and headed to Alicia's place. He would arrive not long after her.

He was turning left, onto her street and still hadn't decided how to say everything he wanted. Because this time he wouldn't hold back, he would lay everything on the table. Veronica's words kept echoing inside his head _"I know my daughter, once she does that, you'll never pry her away."_ His window was only a tear open. Will almost jumped when his phone started ringing on the passenger seat. He didn't even remember it was there. He had tossed the thing aside after hanging up with Alicia. Will took a look at the caller ID and sighed. It was Kalinda, which meant only one thing.

He picked it up and without bothering with pleasantries, asked, "Jury's in?"

"_Jury's in."_ she answered. They had been waiting for this verdict for a couple of days and of course the jury would come in at the worst possible moment. Bad timing, he guessed. Will turned the car around and headed to the courtroom.

The whole way he tried to call Alicia. He wanted to let her know what had happened and that he was still going to drop by afterwards. Each time her cell rang and rang, but she never picked up. She was probably busy with a million different things, handling a dozen different people. When Will finally gave up on calling and decided to text her, the court sheriff was looking impatiently at him with his hand held out for him to give him his cell. The judge had ordered a cell phone free environment.

…..

Between having his client being found guilty and starting the appeal process, a lot of time went by. When he was finally able to leave the courtroom and retrieve his cell phone, it was already dark. _Damn!_

Taking his Blackberry from the court sheriff, he found there were dozens of missed calls from Diane and a couple from Eli. Something had happened. _Oh no, not again._

"Hey, Diane, what happened?" He asked worried, almost running through the hallways out of the courthouse.

"_I'm heading to court and I need your help." _

"Look, Diane, there's something important that can't wait and –"

"_It's for the Florrick campaign. Alicia's already there and I'm on my way."_ She cut him off. Well, if Alicia was in trial with a campaign matter, there was nothing he could do except turn around and help.

"I'm going back inside. See you soon." Will said with a resigned sigh and hung up. Maybe when everything was over he and Alicia could finally talk.


	4. Chapter 4

**_A/N.: I haveno idea where I'll go from here, but I'll try to update as fast as I can. I'm a little unsure about this chapter, so please, please tell me what you think (good AND bad). _**

**_Thanks for the reviews and Mike for beta-reading_**.

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Alicia jumped a little and almost dropped her glass of wine when she heard the bell ring. She rushed to the door, but stopped a little before opening it, resting her trembling hand on the door knob. Pulling it wide open to reveal Cary on the other side, she shifted her weight to her other leg, "tilting" her hip a bit.

"Thanks for agreeing to do this here."

"Sure, what are you thinking?" Cary asked, barely able to contain his eagerness.

"I'm in." Alicia answered, hoping she conveyed the confidence she didn't have.

"So, Florrick, Agos & Associates, huh? What made you change your mind?"

At that moment she looked over Cary's shoulder, only to see an open mouthed Will. His eyes met hers and she noticed as the surprise was replaced by anger and then mixed with deep hurt. This time it wasn't her mind playing tricks on her, Will was really there in her foyer turning around to leave in the same elevator he came in.

"Will!" Alicia shouted. Cary turned around, oblivious to what was happening. She rushed past the young lawyer to catch the elevator before its doors closed. She wasn't fast enough and could only watch as the luminous sign showed the numbers changing, floor by floor. Alicia pressed the button repeatedly, but it would take too long until the machine could come back up to take her to the ground floor. Will would be gone by then. Without thinking twice, she headed for the emergency exit to take the stairs.

"Alicia, where are you going?" She heard Cary shout behind her. _Crap_. She had forgotten about him.

"You can go inside and wait for me there." She shouted back over her shoulder, not daring to stop and let him in properly.

Rushing, no, actually running down the stairs, her knees tempted to fold, but she refused to let them. Heels weren't the appropriate shoes for this, but she didn't care. Her only thought was to get downstairs as fast as possible. With each flight of stairs she thought was the last, but wasn't, she just got more frustrated. It seemed like a lot more than nine floors.

_Finally!_ _The street!_ Alicia saw Will in front of his car trying to open the driver's door. Or maybe, he was winding down before getting inside behind the wheel? It didn't matter. He was still there. She caught him by the elbow to gain his attention, still unable to talk, out of breath from the run. He turned around and she smiled, but it faded as soon as she saw his dark eyes. Alicia had never seen them like this, not even when he had come to her office to confront her about the Thief mock trial. The night they had ended in a passionate kiss.

"Will, please wait." She pleaded still catching her breath.

"What do you want, Alicia?" Will spat the words.

"Wait." She breathed in deeply, "You came here. Why?"

"I came here to **talk.**" _Uh-oh_ "The talk we said we'd have when the election was over." Alicia felt like all of that had happened a lifetime before and not less than 24 hours. "I came here prepared to tell you everything I should have, but didn't all these years. To tell you in person what I said in that voicemail three years ago." _Wait._ _What?_ He came there to tell her that she had made the right decision with Peter? "What I **really** said in the second voice mail." He explained. It was amazing how he could read her so well. "I lied when you asked me about it that day in my office. It had taken me so long to get past your rejection that I didn't want to bring all the awkwardness between us back. So I lied and left things the way they were." He took a deep breath before continuing, "And I've been kicking myself for it ever since that day." So she had been right all this time in thinking he had said something passionate the day of the press conference. "Against my better judgment, I decided to stop being polite and come here to tell you, face to face, that I love you. Without hiding behind a voicemail, a phone call or saying it was an accident. I came here to fight for you. Because I do love you. I'm in love with you, Alicia." _Oh my God_. All air escaped her lungs and her heart threatened to explode in her chest. "I came here for all that, only to arrive and see you agreeing to join Cary's firm. A firm you swore wasn't happening, wasn't going to be a problem. You were part of it all along, weren't you? You've said it yourself, you were the ring leader. Were you playing us all this time?"

_What?_ Alicia felt like she had been punched. She was having a hard time processing all that information. She was still absorbing the 'I love you', unaware of the small smile on her lips. Then in her train of thought, all the sweetness was run over by the bitter part of his speech about her betrayal, turning her grin into a frown.

"No, Will, it just happened, now." She tried to reach him, but he took a step backwards.

"Were you even going to tell m…**us** about your betrayal? Or was I just going to find your resignation letter on my desk?" Will started pacing in the middle of the street. "And this…this is the **perfect timing**! With Peter having just been elected." _Perfect timing_. His choice of words stung in her ears. "The first lady of Illinois starting a new law firm. Very smart." Her eyes burnt with the tears she was trying to hold back. Will suddenly stopped in front of her and spoke in a tone only above a whisper. "Why would you leave?" All the anger seemed to be gone, leaving only the hurt gushing from his eyes.

"You know why." Her tone matched his and her eyes pleaded for him to understand and accept.

"No, Alicia, I'm sorry, but this time I'm not just giving you an out. I've done it too many times and I regret each one of them. I need to hear it either way."

She blinked and one teardrop rolled free over her cheek. She looked down. "Will, we've tried everything. Avoiding each other, being friends again, moving on… and look where that got us." She looked up at him into his eyes. Another drop ran down. "I'm back with Peter and we're going to renew our vows." Two drops made their way down her cheeks. "I'm trying to get my family back together. I can't be sleeping with you after that." He opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off. "You know that's what's going to happen. And it can't. So, I'm leaving the firm." The tears were flowing, probably leaving mascara traces on her face. She made no attempt to hide or clean it. She didn't care.

Will took a few steps forward coming close to her. For one moment Alicia wished he would take her in his arms and comfort her or maybe even kiss her. _What was wrong with her?_ He took her face in his hands. His big hands felt so warm against her cold skin. Will ran his thumbs over her wet cheeks, drying the tears. Without a word, he turned around and walked away to his car.

With all the energy drained from her body, Alicia slowly made her way back up. She took the stairs again, needing the time and the walk to process all that had happened. Will had come here to tell her that he loved her. He **loved** her. She didn't have a hard time believing it, he had let it show a few times, but she didn't expect him to admit it so bluntly. And, _oh God_, he had said that in that voicemail. _What happened to it anyway?_ _Would it have changed anything if she had heard it that day?_ Alicia shook her head to push those thoughts away. It didn't matter. Not anymore. Especially now. The plan was to stay away from him and apparently she had already succeeded, because he was so angry he wouldn't want to have anything to do with her anymore. Alicia arrived at the front door of her apartment, still lost in thought. On autopilot, she started looking for her keys. When she couldn't find them, Alicia started retracing her steps to figure out where she could have left them. That's when she finally remembered the previous events of the evening. _Shit!_ Cary was there. The last thing she wanted to do was face anyone, let alone talk about business plans. She had to get inside, so she rang the bell and tried to hide the trace of her tears the best she could. Apparently Alicia did a poor job, judging by the look of sympathy on Cary's face as he opened the door.

"I'm sorry, but can we do this tomorrow?" She considered giving him an excuse. Saying she was tired because of the all-nighter the day before, or because of the election. Alicia decided against it in the end. There was no point in hiding that she was shaken because of her conversation with Will.

"Sure. Sure." He passed her on the way to the door to leave. Before he went through the threshold, Cary turned around and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, adding, "Alicia, if you've changed your mind, you can still go back. It's okay, I'll pretend tonight never happened."

His thoughtfulness managed to make her express a small smile, but she shook her head. "Thank you, Cary. But I'm still in."

"Okay then. See you tomorrow, partner." He exited the apartment and closed the door behind himself.


	5. Chapter 5

**_Sorry it took so long to update. This chapter wasn't supposed to be this long, but I just kept writing..._****_Please, leave a review, I'm always glad to read them :)_**

**_Thanks to Mike for beta-reading and putting up with me and my doubts! _**

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Will entered the pitch black hallways, not bothering nor needing to turn on the lights. He knew his way through his firm like the back of his hand. Lockhart/Gardner was so different at night without all the noise and people going by, but he dared to say, he liked it better like that – empty and quiet. Especially tonight that he was in the need to be alone. After the fight with Alicia he wasn't in the mood for being surrounded by strangers in a bar and going home was out of the question. Not yet. He had settled for going to the office and getting drunk there. Plus, he needed to start damage control management. Analyzing the potential clients they could be stealing and what that would mean to his firm. He needed to make a plan.

With a glass and bottle of scotch sitting on the desk right in front of him, Will was working on some files while listening to some loud hardcore metal rock on his iPod. Suddenly, a hand banged on the desk startling him. Will looked up to meet Diane's very angry stare. He pressed 'pause' to the music and took the earplugs off.

"Finally." She said exasperated, rolling her eyes. "I have been calling you for a while." Diane raised one eyebrow.

"Sorry." He apologized a little embarrassed, motioning towards the iPod. "Didn't know you were still here. By the way, what are you still doing here? Your lights were off."

"I was taking a nap. After the Florrick trial I had to come here to finalize some things and then was too tired to drive home after the all nighter. What are you…" She suddenly stopped and her light tone turned into a frown. She looked really pissed. Diane closed her eyes, pinched the bridge of her nose and taking a deep breath, she added, "Will, we've talked about this, it's not smart." She looked at him again and he was the one to frown in confusion now. "You and Alicia; I didn't know it was still going on. Her husband has just been elected –"

Will held a hand up and cut her off. "Don't bother with the scolding, it's over." She opened her mouth, probably to argue, but he continued. "She's leaving. To start a new firm with Cary and the other fourth year associates. Florrick, Agos & Associates." He said with disdain. Then to convince her, or maybe himself, he added firmly, "It's over." Diane closed her mouth again, she was speechless. Will could see her eyes change from anger to sympathy, maybe even pity, and then to anger once again. The new anger, however, not towards him like before, but surely towards their former employees.

Will had no idea what she was going to say. It was not like them to talk about his personal involvement in the situation. He couldn't say he was really surprised when she pulled the chair over across from his, sat down and said "Well, let's get to work, then. We have a lot to do if we want to cover the damage they'll do." He didn't know what to say. He just stared at Diane, blinking. "What are you waiting for? You'll leave me doing all the work?" she added with a light smile and a look of determination.

Will shook his head and began to work with her. He hoped she hadn't seen the grin on his lips as he was too proud to admit to her that he felt comfort at having a friend by his side. Even if it was for a short while since she would become a Supreme Court judge soon. It was another matter that complicated things even more, but that was a problem for tomorrow.

...

Cary was waiting outside in front of the Lockhart/Gardner building. He took a look at his watch. 8:05 a.m. He and Alicia had said they would meet at 8 o'clock. As he caught himself tapping his foot, he stopped immediately. _I´m becoming my mother. It's only five minutes, for God's sake._

Shortly after he spotted Alicia with a cup of coffee rushing in his direction. She didn't stop and walked past him entering the building and murmuring a _'Come on, let's go'_ over her shoulder. Alicia seemed to be doing that a lot lately much to his annoyance.

Once inside the elevator riding up to the 28th floor, Cary couldn't help but notice that Alicia looked like she hadn't closed her eyes the whole night and that she was wearing more makeup than usual, probably trying to cover it up. Alicia was shifting her weight from one leg to the other and constantly checking the floor indicator. God, he hoped he didn't appear to be as nervous as she was. Cary was dying to know what had happened the night before between Will and Alicia, to know how bad the situation for them was, but he would never ask. He knew their relationship was complicated in general as old friends who had had and ended an affair a little more than a year before, but didn't know the extent. Cary didn't have a clue as to how things had been between Will and Alicia lately. Sometimes he had noticed their interactions were friendly, but sometimes it was tense and awkward. Not very different from him and Kalinda, if he was being honest.

"Alicia." She jumped. "Sorry to scare you." He said in a soft voice. "I talk to Will and you to Diane? Divide and conquer, right?" he offered with a nervous smile.

Alicia nodded, still looking at the indicator. At that moment it stopped changing, displaying the 28th and the machine came to a halt, opening its doors with a 'ping'. Cary took a deep breath and exited. He noticed that Alicia hadn't followed him and turned around. She was still inside the elevator staring blankly ahead, not moving. As the doors were about to close again, Cary put his arm in between, holding them.

"Come on, Alicia." He said encouraging her and she followed him through the familiar corridors.

"Cary." She called, with a shaky voice, and he turned around, fearing that she was finally backing away. "I think – I think we should give them a list of the clients we're taking. It's the least we owe them." Cary nodded in agreement and continued his way to his former boss' office. **Former** boss. They were really doing this. His own firm. In the midst of all the mess and nervousness, he took a brief moment to feel proud of himself. His dad would be impressed. Not that he felt the need to impress his father anymore, but still.

Getting to the hall between the two corner offices, he noticed Diane's was empty. _Uh-oh_, he could see now through the glass door that she was in Will's. The litigator was sitting at his desk and Diane was standing beside him bending over some papers. They were working together on something. Will must have already told Diane about their leaving. In a way, it was easier like that; they had only to hand in their resignation letters. They would be in and out in a couple of minutes; lowering the chances of running into Kalinda.

Before opening the door, he turned around one last time to see if Alicia hadn't bolted. She was pale, looking even more nervous than she had before if that was even possible. There was no other way, so he knocked and opened the door.

The moment they entered the room, both his ex-employers' heads shot up staring at them, but other than that, they did not move. When neither Will nor Diane started shouting, Cary felt encouraged to enter the office farther. Always checking if Alicia was still with him.

"Here are our resignation letters. Ours and the other fourth year associates'." The young man said laying the envelopes on the desk. Diane stood up straight, crossing her arms, but not touching the envelopes in front of her. "I assume Will has already told you about us leaving?" Diane nodded and Cary shifted uncomfortably, putting his hands on his pockets. Weren't they going to say anything? Will was just staring blankly ahead. Cary had been expecting loud voices and accusations, not silence. "We'll be sending you a list with the clients that are coming with us before the end of the day."

"Don't bother. Kalinda has already put a list together. Sweeney and Bishop, huh?" She took a breath and uncrossed her arms "How could you do that to us? We hired you back and kept you through the verge of bankruptcy, even though the last to join would logically be the first to go in the lay-offs. And we know you were disappointed with the whole partnership story, but it wasn't our decision. And I told Will to make you partner if I leave for the Supreme Court. Even if you were the one with the least seniority here." Ah, so she was the partner that was possibly leaving. Diane placed her open palms at the wooden table top. Her gaze shifted from him to Alicia. "And what about you, Alicia? You're a partner. That's how you repay us after Will gave you a lifesaving job four years ago then Will and I going above and beyond with the partners so that we could give you the raise last year? You stab us in the back? I certainly wouldn't expect that from you." Will still hadn't said a word. He was sitting quietly, now looking down at his desk.

"Diane, this is a professional decision. It isn't personal." Cary tried to soothe. He noticed that both Alicia and Diane glanced immediately at Will, who still hadn't looked up. He was fumbling with his baseball, throwing it from one hand to the other.

"Right." Diane snorted, "Well, I guess we'll see you in the opposite side of court, then. Expect to be crushed." She said with a smile and venom spilling from her eyes.

"Goodbye, Diane, Will." Cary smiled with a polite nod. Neither of them answered, Will still eyeing his baseball. Cary turned around to leave. On his way out he placed a hand on Alicia's shoulder to gain her attention, because she was staring, mesmerized, at Will. The contact seemed to break her trance, but she still parted with a longing look in his direction.


	6. Chapter 6

_I'm so sorry it took me so long to update. I was so full of exams and my muse was away. Thanks to Jojo for sending her back ;) Also thanks to all the lovely reviews and everyone that got so excited about this story, making me want to write more! _

_Special thanks to Mike, my amazing beta, who read this super fast, making it possible for me to post._

* * *

Alicia was exhausted. It had been a really long day making sure every single detail was in order so that Florrick, Agos & Associates could start business on the next day. It was a little past midnight and all the associates along with other employees of the firm were gathered in the conference room for a little toast and pep-talk.

"I'd like to propose a toast to Florrick, Agos & Associates, a crazy dream come true. And especially to my partner Alicia, who came on board last minute and brought with her half of our clients." With her announcement to leave Lockhart/Gardner and open her own firm, her clients at the firm, among them Sweeney, and also a few others had decided to come with her. It was good having the first lady of Illinois defending you.

"To Alicia." They all shouted in unison and drank their champagne. Despite the late hour, the atmosphere was of joy and excitement for the new journey to begin. Alicia was proud of their accomplishment, but couldn't bring herself to be truly happy about it, being only able to think about what they did to their old firm. Especially Will, who would be struggling with the losses alone after Diane left. Will, who she had backstabbed in more than one way, both professionally and personally.

Alicia remembered the day, more than ten years before, when Peter had told her about Stern bringing in a new name partner from Baltimore, no one other than Will Gardner. She had been thrilled for Will and called to congratulate him, one of the few times they had spoken to each other during her stay-at-home-mom years.

_She had called the firm expecting to leave a message either on an answering machine or with one of the secretaries and was surprised when Will himself answered the phone. _

"_You're a name partner now, are you still answering calls?" Alicia teased._

"_Alicia?" He asked confused. She was probably the last person he was expecting to get a call from. _

"_Congratulations, Will!" _

"_Oh, hey! Thanks. How are you?" Alicia could hear the happiness and excitement in his voice. _

"_I'm good. What are you still doing there so late? I wasn't expecting to find anyone still at the firm."_

"_Along with my coming to the firm, it is also expanding. We leased the 27__th__ floor and it'll be officially open tomorrow, so we were arranging the last few details here. Now we're having a little gathering so that my people get to know Stern's and Diane's people. Stern being…" he paused like he was looking for the right word, "let's say, extravagant, like he is, just made a toast in my honor and gave us a pep-talk about team union and family and all kinds of crap." Will chuckled and it made her smile. She hadn't heard it in a long time. _

"_I'm proud of you, Will. At least you got the 'Gardner' on the door. "In their first year at Georgetown in the middle of their many study sessions, in an attempt to motivate themselves to study as hard as they could, they had dreamt about the law firm they would open together one day. 'Cavanaugh & Gardner'. At least Will was fulfilling their dreams. _

"_You still can get the 'Cavanaugh', Alicia. Come back to work. I still have some hires to make." As much as she missed the law and work, she had barely time to manage the kids, the house and Peter's career. She couldn't add another responsibility to her schedule._

"_Thanks, Will, but the kids need me and Peter…" _

"_Well, the offer stands. If you change your mind, just call me." _

"_Thank you. Now I'll let you get back to the party. After all, it's __**your **__party. Congratulations again, Will. You deserve it." _

"_Thank you, Alicia." Will said and after a brief period of silence, in which Alicia knew he was still there, she hung up. _

Now the situation was the other way around. She was the one hanging her name on the door, not Cavanaugh, but still her name and the one exhausted from setting up a firm, but she knew Will wouldn't be calling her. Nor was she as happy as he had been when it had happened to him. With every congratulations she got, she could only feel guilt and shame and her only response to them was a fake polite smile.

….

Alicia entered the house as quiet as possible so not to wake anyone up and intended to collapse in bed after having a glass of wine. Peter was still up, though, watching TV.

"Hey, how did it go?" He asked upon noticing her presence.

"Good. Everything's ready for tomorrow."

He smiled and asked, "Do you want some dinner? There's some pasta left."

"No, thank you, Peter. I'll just grab a glass of wine and go to bed."

"Have you eaten anything?" Taking a good look at her, "you haven't. No discussion, I'll reheat it for you." Peter said, leading her to the kitchen.

He sat with her at the table, keeping her company, but Alicia was answering his questions with one-word sentences. She wasn't in the mood to talk. Nor was she hungry and moved the food around her plate with the fork rather than really eat.

"You know, moving the food around won't make it disappear. You have to actually eat it." Peter said with a smile. Alicia didn't answer and drank her wine. "What's going on, babe?"

"Nothing." She said with a shrug.

"It's not nothing. You have been like this for a week, ever since the election. Did something happen?" He asked concerned, placing one hand over hers on the table.

"I'm just tired, Peter, that's all." Peter looked like he didn't believe that was all, but didn't ask further. For that, Alicia was thankful. She wasn't in the mood to talk and even less in the mood to fight.

"Well, if you're not going to eat that, I'll just clean it up." He got up and took her plate to the sink. Peter tried to appear calm, but she knew he was pissed.

….

The elevator opened its doors to the 28th floor of Lockhart/Gardner and Will was met by a very angry Kalinda. She didn't look much different than usual, with her red jacket, black leather skirt and matching boots. She had her orange notebook in hand and only a slight furrow of her eyebrows. To the untrained eye, she appeared as serene as always, but he knew she was pissed. At him.

"Will, where have you been? You were supposed to be arranging meetings to convince our clients to stay. Aside from meetings to win our clients back from Florrick/Agos. There are more leaving." The investigator said with concern.

Will walked past her in the direction of his office without saying a word and she followed him closely.

"Will, it's almost noon. There are meetings to be arranged and calls to be made."

"I've decided against it." He said nonchalantly, like he had just chosen not to buy an ice cream.

"What?" Kalinda stopped in her tracks on the threshold of Will's office. Will entered the room, shut the window blinds and put his things on his desk.

"Yeah, I've figured that if the clients are stupid enough to leave us for a small start-up firm, let them, we don't need that kind of client."

"We need **every** client, right now. Are you out of your mind?" Kalinda had never spoken to him like that. They might be friends, but he was still her boss and she respected that. On the other hand, he too seemed out of character. This wasn't a normal day. "What happened, Will? Why are you so late?"

"Nothing, K. Everything is fine." She gave him a knowing glance. Nothing was fine. Alicia had left, Diane was leaving and the firm was on the edge again. Would he ever stop feeling like everything was falling apart? At least he still had K by his side this time. He knew she could have left too if she wanted.

"You're hung-over, aren't you?"

"What? No." he said dismissively.

She shot him a Kalinda-look "Then why have you shut all the blinds?" She walked over to the windows and opened one of them, watching Will wince in pain. His head felt like it was about to explode. "Yeah, I thought so." She turned around to leave, but before exiting through the door, she tossed him an Advil.

….

Kalinda had wanted to expose Peter ever since she discovered the video of Jim Moody placing the fake votes._ Peter hadn't changed a bit from his old methods, _was the only thought through Kalinda's head. Methods she knew from her time working at the State's Attorney's office. She had held back during the trial because of Alicia. Her friend had worked hard on the campaign and didn't deserve another scandal. Although, ever since Alicia's betrayal in leaving Lockhart/Gardner, Kalinda had been more tempted to leak the footage. After seeing the resignation in Will's eyes that morning, she had taken the USB stick with the video out of the locked drawer she had been keeping it in. She had been walking around the whole day with it in her jacket's inside pocket, still conflicted, undecided on what to do.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Thank you all for your reviews, I am so glad you like the story! Hope you're still with me, despite my late updates, I still have a lot of ideas for this. **_

_**Thanks to Mike for being a great beta!**_

* * *

Sitting in front of her open laptop, Kalinda couldn't upload the video. Despite her anger, her instinct to protect Alicia was still stronger than her desire for revenge. So, she put the USB stick back in the drawer. The investigator thought about what a new scandal in the Florrick family would do and nowhere in the middle of that picture did she see a relief for either Will's or her pain of being betrayed and abandoned. It also occurred to her that Peter's arrest would ruin Diane's chance of being elected judge. That was the decisive argument, the one that got her to lock the drawer again.

….

The up side of having a small firm was the quietness that existed even in the middle of the day. At Lockhart & Gardner Alicia would only get to work in piece late at night, after everyone else had left. She was reading some information that Robyn had brought her earlier when she looked up and saw Carry heading in the direction of his office, followed by no one other than Colin Sweeney. _What had he done now?_ They were passing by her office to get to Cary's on the other corner when suddenly Mr. Sweeney stopped and turned around, entering Alicia's office.

"Mrs. Florrick, what a pleasure. Congratulations. Mr. Agos was giving me the tour and I'm quite impressed with the firm," he said with a grin. Alicia saw Cary realize that Sweeney was no longer behind him and look for the client, confused. Until he noticed that the client had entered Alicia's office and followed him inside.

"Thank you, Mr. Sweeney. What trouble brings you here today?" Alicia said, her voice filled with irony. She wasn't in the mood for Sweeney today.

"I'm offended that you think that of me, Mrs. Florrick. I'm just getting to know my new law firm. To be honest, I never thought you would really leave Lockhart & Gardner. I thought your sense of loyalty was too strong for a coup. When I heard you were joining Mr. Agos, I had to come, too. That's something I bet didn't please Ms. Lockhart and Mr. Gardner one bit. Although, I'm glad you did, that deal of ours is good."

Alicia was prepared to give him an eye-roll and an answer, but seeing Cary behind Sweeney beg her not to with his eyes, made her bite her tongue. She wasn't able to control rolling her eyes, though.

"You seem different, Mrs. Florrick. What is it?" Sweeney asked taking a good look at her.

"I'm perfectly fine, Mr. Sweeney. Maybe it's the haircut." She said in a polite tone that accompanied her fake smile.

"Nah, that's not it." Sweeney analyzed her with narrowed eyes.

"Let's go to my office to sign the contract, Mr. Sweeney. This way, please." Cary intervened. _What took you so long, Cary?_ Still eyeing her thoroughly, Sweeney was led out of her office by Cary, leaving her alone once again, very irritated.

….

After an exhausting day and there had been a lot of those lately; Alicia, surprisingly, managed to get home early. Ever since her brief meeting with Sweeney, she'd had a headache that wouldn't go away. She wasn't getting much work done anyway, so, she decided she might do nothing at home as well. With Zach in college and Peter having to stay in Springfield with Eli and Marilyn to arrange things for his acceptance, it looked like she would have a girls' night in with Grace.

On her way home, Alicia called her daughter to ask what movie they could watch, only to discover that she was at Connor's and wouldn't be home until later. Wasn't Grace supposed to tell her when she wouldn't be home? Then again, maybe she had and Alicia didn't remember. She had so much on her plate with the new firm that she didn't register the small things anymore. This had to stop; she needed to be a better mom.

Grace being away, too, meant Alicia would have the night all to herself. It had been ages since she'd had a night off. Being the boss was even more difficult than she had imagined, especially in a start up firm, taking a lot of her free time.

She got home, poured herself some wine and sat on the couch contemplating what to read. Tired from the day, the week, the month, Alicia didn't want anything that required much of her attention. So, she allowed herself to choose the most superfluous thing she could find. That month's Chicago Magazine that was lying on the coffee table would have to do it.

Leaning back on the couch cushions, she skipped the politics section – she had enough of it in her life – and went right to the entertainment part. She was almost done with the entire section, and slightly bored from it – guess the lack of time wasn't the only thing keeping her from constantly reading the Chicago Magazine – when a picture caught her attention.

It was a photo of Will arriving at some event. He had each of his arms over the shoulders of a different blond in a short dress. The note under the photograph read: '_Lawyer Will Gardner, still one of Chicago's most eligible bachelors, sure knows how to party and is definitely well accompanied.'_

Alicia unconsciously reached for the wine and finished it in one gulp. She was glad Will was moving on. At least that was what she was trying to convince herself of. She was trying to move on herself. Actually, she was trying to move back, since the goal was to repair her marriage with Peter. Alicia reached once more for the glass on the table. Damn, she already needed a refill. Where did all that wine go?Maybe Grace wasn't all wrong in her complaint about her drinking.

She closed the magazine and got off the couch, but on her way to the kitchen, she decided to go to bed. Alicia took a turn towards her bedroom. She had planned to watch 'Eat, Pray, Love', a movie Alicia had wanted to watch ever since finishing reading the book, two years before, but had never found the time. Now she didn't feel like it anymore and even though it was still early, Alicia decided to call it a day. Catching up on her sleep sounded like a good idea. The headache from before had suddenly come back, stronger than ever.

….

Coming in to start the work day, Will reached his office, relieved that he hadn't run into Kalinda in the hallways. He knew she would give him a hard time about being late again. That didn't mean he wouldn't hear about it later when they saw each other, but at least he hoped his hangover would be better by then. The lawyer's happiness was short lived, though, when he entered the room and was met by an angry looking Diane sitting on his couch, tapping her foot. Normally he wouldn't have been okay with it and would have said something, but coming in at noon for the fifth day in a row, even Will knew he wasn't in a position to complain. So, he just put his things down quietly on his desk, hung his coat and sat on the leather chair across from his partner, giving her his full attention.

"Will, where have you been?" _When did Diane start to speak so loudly?_ It was making his headache even worse. "I have been waiting for you all morning."

"I had my dentist appointment." He said trying to sound as truthful as he could, but Diane looked at him like she didn't believe it. Truth was he had been up all night in a poker game with Celeste and her friends. Will had lost badly, but what the hell, it had been fun. The 5 o'clock shadow and the dark circles under his eyes probably told Diane the true story, but she didn't ask further and he was grateful for that.

"I have something important to talk to you about," she said in a serious tone.

"Oh God, which client have we lost now?" Will sighed and ran a hand across his face.

"No, no client." Diane put a hand up, trying to calm him down. "I have been thinking and I think you should consider a partner for when I'm gone."

"I thought you'd said that I don't need a partner. That it was probably best if I went with Gardner & Associates." Will leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees and intertwining his fingers in front of him. He was trying to focus through the throbbing in his brain.

"I know, but that was before Cary and Alicia left, taking half of our clients and employees with them. Things have changed."

"But what difference would it make if I made David Lee or someone else name partner?"

"I'm not saying you should promote someone here. I'm talking about bringing in a new partner. We need their money, their employees and especially, their clients. It would be good for the firm, Will." She mimicked him, leaning forward, too.

"Well, do you have someone in mind?" he asked still not fully convinced.

"Actually, I do. From what I have been hearing around, there's someone that I think might be interested in the offer." Will looked at her expectantly. "But I don't think you'll like it."

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_**A/N.: So, do you have an idea who could they bring as the new partner? Make your suggestion on the review. I already have someone in mind, but if I like yours better, I can always change it :D**_


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